TESDA trains residents of 3 insurgency-cleared NegOcc villages

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 12, 2021): TESDA trains residents of 3 insurgency-cleared NegOcc villages (By Nanette Guadalquiver)

TESDA TRAINING. The launching activity of the community-based skills training and other livelihood interventions led by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Barangay Codcod, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Aug. 5, 2021. Some 63 beneficiaries from three insurgency-cleared villages are attending various training this month. (Photo courtesy of TESDA-Negros Occidental)

A total of 63 residents of three insurgency-cleared villages in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental have been identified as beneficiaries of the community-based livelihood skills training and other livelihood interventions from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

In a report on Thursday, TESDA-Negros Occidental said the trainees are from Barangays Codcod, which has 22 participants; Quezon, 21; and Nataban, 20.

On August 11, the group from Quezon started the training on Organic Concoction and Extracts Production while those from Nataban began the sessions on Raising Organic Hogs.

The participants from Codcod will start the Carpentry National Certificate II Training on August 16.

In a statement, TESDA VI regional director Jerry Tizon encouraged the beneficiaries, who belong to the marginalized and vulnerable sectors, to work hard to overcome life’s adversities, which he did being a son of a fisherman.

“These programs will enable you to be progressive skilled workers. Never waste the opportunity given to you. The knowledge you will gain can never be robbed from you,” he added.

TESDA-Negros Occidental Acting Provincial Director Romelia Nuezca said the beneficiaries are availing of the training for free under the agency’s Special Training for Employment Program.

They will also receive free assessment, internet allowance, one-year accident insurance, health/personal protective equipment allowance, starter toolkits, and a training support fund of PHP160 per day.

The training programs are being implemented by TESDA under the Poverty Reduction Livelihood and Employment Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

In San Carlos City, five barangays have been identified as insurgency-cleared, or no longer under the influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

Aside from Codcod, Quezon, and Nataban, the two others are Buluangan and Guadalupe.

They are among the 26 villages in Negros Occidental included in the Local Government Support Fund-Support to Barangay Development Program (LGSF-SBDP) under the NTF-ELCAC.

The BDP is a hallmark program of the NTF-ELCAC with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities.

Each of the insurgency-cleared villages has been allocated PHP20-million assistance, including one-kilometer farm-to-market road worth PHP12 million; classrooms, PHP3 million; water and sanitation systems, PHP2 million; health station, PHP1.5 million; and livelihood projects, PHP1.5 million.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1150288